So...whats for dinner?

illimae

dinner tonight was cheeseburgers with oven roasted potato wedges.

MinusTwo

Illiemae - are those Sheila Partin's buns? I'm pretty sure her bakery is still open but she sells mostly to commercial places now & they are hard to find. Seems to me that Five Guys used to feature her buns? https://www.sbakery.com/about.html I don't think they are SloDough. Anyway - looks delicious.

Dunch was California Roll with English cucumber sticks on the side. Since it is somehow already almost 8pm, dinner will likely be a bowl of popcorn.

Another thread has been having a discussion about creamed eggs. One of my Mother's friends always had an Easter buffet that featured a large dish of creamed eggs - literally floating in cream sauce. I got the recipe from her niece before she died. It was hard boiled eggs cut in half. The yolks smushed, spices added and re-stuffed. Some curry was added to the cream sauce - as well as onions & garlic - and eggs were submerged. You served yourself with a huge spoon and they sat along side the traditional ham. They were delicious.

illimae

Minus, the buns are actually from the Kroger store bakery and they’re pretty good. The wedges came out better than expected, so that was nice.

eric95us

Today, I made some more sourdough rolls for DD..daddy's way of spoiling his daughter! :-)

I think larger blobs of the same dough would do a good job for hamburger rolls. Maybe tomorrow...if we get done painting at a reasonable time...I'll give that a try.

Sharon and I are going to paint our home's exterior. We have the back part of the house ready for paint. I had to do some wood replacement while she did the pressure washing and we both did caulking. It's the usual 8 hours of prep work for 2 hours of painting.

We're having to do it in pieces. The desert bugs and desert dust are back 24 hours after cleaning, so we can't get too much time between prep and paint.

ChiSandy

Shamelessly slept in; made matzo brei for lunch. Dinner was at Cellars' annual Dine Out 4 Life night, with wine raffles (I didn't win any) and 20% of proceeds (food & drink) going to the Howard Brown AIDS Clinic here in Chicago. Since I don't necessarily do Passover outside the house, I had their specialty: beer-battered fish & chips (packed half to go right away), plus Black Dog gelato (double dark chocolate and salted caramel) for dessert. (Packed half of that too, straight to the freezer when I got home). Black Dog will be one of the new booths at this year's Taste of Chicago.

carolehalston

Wednesday night was carryout pizza.  I order online and dh does the carryout part.  Toppings were extra cheese, extra Italian sausage, black olives and banana peppers.

Last night was oven fried small catfish fillets and cabbage sautéed in butter.  

Once again we were lucky and the weather wasn't as bad yesterday as the forecast warning.  

Lacey12

Is everyone on vacation....or fasting?

Sandy, it was interesting to learn about shmura matzo. Thanks! You got my mouth watering with the image of cherry jam on your matzo...a favorite combo of mine.

Eric, I admire your ambition for the housepainting task and can imagine how frustrating it must be to work your timing around the desert bugs and dust! What kind of bugs are they?

We would welcome some “dust” here as we seem to be going through a long rainy duration with just an occasional sunny warm day. If we can string a few of those days together we’ll have a green explosion.

Today DS2 came over with his truck to help us finish clearing out his old room (bunk bed disassemble, removal of any vestiges of his youth, college books, etc.) and set up a crib for their expected baby.

Minus, yes it has seemed early to do this but, 1) DS2 was thrilled to take the opportunity to encourage us to clear out a portion of at least this space since the house has way more stored “stuff” in it than his love of open spaces can tolerate....and 2) his wife has landed in the hospital twice in the last few weeks for management of strong, unrelenting contractions, so there is a sense that she may not make it to June. Doing okay for now, though. So we’re keeping fingers crossed that the baby gets a few more weeks to grow.

Since I’ve been busy clearing house stuff out (Nance, you are my heroine!) all week, I’ve had little interest in cooking. We have had omelets, lots of salads, some middle eastern take out food, and tonight DH was game to drive to the next town to pick up a lovely meal from Captain Marden’s Seafood. The grilled garlic shrimp was okay, but the broiled sea scallop dinner with butternut squash and rice pilaf was so delicious. I wondered if it tasted so good because someone else made it! DH also ordered their clam chowder which was tasty if a bit thick. I’ve come to prefer the chowder at The Harp and this was almost as good.

Recently, a friend brought us a couple of bagels she made with the Weight Watchers 2 ingredient recipe. She is excited that they are only 2 points each. I’m excited to try a recipe that involves using only self-rising flour and Greek yogurt. They were really tasty! Has anyone made these?

Special, I hope that you are having a great trip up the CA coast!

Sadly, we may be heading back to LA soon as my brother rapidly declined shortly after we saw him in Feb. It has been a painful, complicated month for him and my SIL, and we’ve been frustrated given the great distance and our not understanding the possible support systems available for people in his advanced LBD condition, even if our suggestions would be welcome.

Tomorrow I shall free myself from the house (after watching the Celtics/Bucks’ game) to do some food shopping and start planning a few meals.

MinusTwo

Lacey - good to hear from you. I agree - if you have the younger generation on board for moving & sorting, it's the time to jump on it. What did you do with his old bunk bed? I hope he took his books & college things - but likely not.

Eric - I agree with Lacey. Painting is a major task. Nice that the two of you can work together. And I want some of those sourdough rolls.

Special - how was the shower? Your road trip sounds fantastic. My niece is getting married in Oak Park in September and I'm trying to decide whether to drive south to San Diego afterwards or up the coast through Carmel to San Francisco & then Marin County.

Nance - knowing you I expect you're still "on task" with the cleaning & sorting. Do you have a deadline?

Carole - without looking back, I think you said you'll head north in early May? I agree with Nance that it's so hard to see our parents decline. Did the Easter dinner go OK?

Illimae - do you try to get out to your 'retreat' on any regular schedule? Should be pretty out there right now before it gets too much hotter.

Not fasting - just not inspired. Yesterday was a bagged Asian salad and Hawaiian sweet rolls. Tonight was fresh asparagus sauteed w/EVO, lemon, onion & garlic - served with left over StoveTop stuffing. Dessert will be an oatmeal-raisin cookie I picked up at Costco for a meeting last Tuesday. I know it was selfish but I only donated the choc chip & white choc macademia nut cookies from the variety pack & kept the oatmeal for myself.

Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend for a rep play at 2:30. We haven't decided whether to eat after at the Black Labrador (Brit pub) or Katz Deli (pure NY)

carolehalston

Last night was lamb loin chops with fresh green beans cooked with cubed potatoes and a tossed salad with many ingredients.  

Our departure date is May 19.  We're making a stop in Decatur, IL, to visit dh's sister and her husband.  She has been battling a rare disease for the last 7 or 8 years.  It's called amyloidosis and is similar to cancer in that the body produces more proteins called amyloids than is normal.  

Not sure about tonight's menu.  I'm playing golf at 9 am.

auntienance

Ha ha Lacey, I'm glad I'm an inspiration to somebody because I feel petty uninspired especially where food is concerned. We are still in the throes of decluttering and repairing, the final stages. Tomorrow the dumpster arrives and we can actually get the junk out of the house. We have about one more trip to the storage unit, a trip to the hazardous waste disposal center (some cans of oil based paint, solvents and motor oil) and a small trip to Goodwill with some coats. Then we'll be ready for deep cleaning. I'm estimating another two weeks. Of course, spring finally arrived, along with the weeds and grass, so that's required a time commitment. My back and knees are killing me.

It's very green here, yet it's 37° right now. My poor shivering lone hummingbird arrived but isn't hanging out too much at the feeder yet. When reinforcements arrive, I expect we'll have more activity. The rose breasted grosbeaks and Baltimore orioles are here and I've already gone through two large jars of grape jelly. A house wren has set up housekeeping in the wren house on the front porch. We've seen a pair of red foxes in the yard twice now.

As usual, my garden is sitting on the front porch waiting for it to warm up. No vegetables this year, just flowers, except for some green beans. Only one of the three apple trees bloomed, possibly because of the very late snow storm. Don't know what the squirrels and deer will eat if there are no apples. I feel for Sandy and probably Monica with all this late horrible cold and snowy weather. Is the snow getting as far as you Lacey? Frustrating. Even we're running 10° below normal and can't seem to get two sunny days in a row.

I appreciate those of you who keep this thread going even when the rest of us slack off. I always read even if I don't post. I need the dinner inspiration. I think tonight is a brisket.

SpecialK

The shower was a great success, I will post some photos. The road trip with my friend is in jeopardy - we are supposed to leave on May 7th for San Diego, but her daughter - pregnant with her third - is in ICU with a combo of pneumonia and an as yet undetermined additional infection. She is receiving 4 IV antibiotics and is still very ill and weak. Her husband is staying at the hospital 24/7 so my friend is watching her two grands, one who is 8, the other is 2. I arranged an Airbnb house in Napa that starts on the 12th - when the husbands were joining us, so my DH and I will be going for that at a minimum since it is non-refundable.

Here is the shower - it was garden themed:

Here is the dessert table:

Mimosa bar:

We had a date night ideas jar, and a recipe box card drop - blank recipe cards were included with the invitations. Here are the favors, handmade soaps with a label that said that “Thanks for showering Tory with love” which was cute. Her mom ordered them.

Beaverntx

Also thinking of Sandy and others with the late snowstorm. Happy to know some folks are ambitiously cleaning. I still have a couple of boxes of things to be donated from our "forced cleaning" last December when we had to empty every thing so furniture could be moved when the new flooring was being installed. Took clothing to an area hospice thrift store and discovered I could have taken every thing, just haven't gone back yet.

I haven't been absent, just nonverbal. Most of our meals this past week have been finishing up leftovers from having company last weekend. Last night was an "I have no idea what to fix" night . Ended up with eggs over easy, bagels, mixed vegetables and slaw. Sounds a little weird but it did taste good!

illimae

Minus, DH is heading to the cabin in a couple weeks to install flooring, etc. We’re hoping to move in by fall, so much to do to both homes before then.

eric95us

Snow?????!!!!??? The only snow around here is in a snowglobe. It's already been over 100F here.

Special, that looks like quite a bit of food. :-) I hope things are brought back under control with your friend's daughter. That's a scary thing.

The bugs are actually a tiny spider (spider mite?) that spins a "dust gathering" quarter sized web on the wood. I pressure wash in the evening and by the morning, the webs are back. It's amazing how quickly they rebuild after the "assault" from the pressure washer.

Moonflwr912

tonigjt, i cooked the rest of the ham. I only vooked half of it, because there were only 4 of us. So i finally cooked it, made scalloped potatoes, and froze the bone for bean soup some other time. Tomorrow will be steak, as I thawed it out today.

Sounds like the cleaning bug hit everyone. I still have to get my freezer cleaned out.

We were lucky, the 5 to 10 inches of snow didnt happen! We have had April storms before, bringing as much as 20 inches, but it usually melts quickly. LOL

Much love to all

MinusTwo

Moon - always so glad to see you

ChiSandy

Hi, Monica--glad coastal WI didn't get slammed as badly as forecast. We got several inches of slushy slop that didn't stick till well after nightfall, but it melted overnight (and didn't freeze here at the lakefront). My singing partner came down from Madison to do a show (we were offered an "out" in the morning on account of the snow, but we figured if the restaurant was going to be open, we should be there), and reports that a performance of "Shrek: The Musical" was canceled in Madison. Amazingly, 13 people came out to see us play!

Our set ended a little before closing time, so the kitchen packed up hot dinners for us to take home. Mine was shrimp & grits with mushrooms & bacon (definitely a sign that Passover was over) and a side of southern-fried okra. So nice I had it twice (last night & the leftovers tonight).

Lacey, Carole--hoping for healing and comfort for your respective siblings. Special, same for your friend's DD--and that her pregnancy goes uneventfully to term.

carolehalston

What a beautiful shower spread.  Enjoyed seeing the photos, SpecialK.  I hope your friend's daughter recovers and the trip happens.

I may have to waddle back to WW.  My weight keeps creeping up even though there are no bon bons in the house.

Last night's dinner was meatless but the pasta main dish was high carb.  Linguine with a creamy sauce that developed from shredded parm and pasta water.  The side was a large tossed salad.  

Lacey12

Yikes, I feel for those of you dealing with yet more winter weather patterns. I’m feeling fortunate that all the recent precipitation here has only been rain, but after the few lovely warm days we’ve had, these chilly rain-filled ones feel like enough of an assault. On Saturday, DH actually put the snowblower back in the shed when DS2 was here lending his strong back. We’re hoping that move doesn’t bring bad luck in the form of another white storm. We were actually lucky this year in term of snow totals...one of our easiest winters. Our next door neighbors just returned from South FL, and they are disliking this cold wet weather way more than we are.

Special....what a beautiful luncheon display! You have such a lovely design sense and the colorful food choices look so appealing! Guests must have really appreciated your creative, tasty effort. Thanks for sharing the pix!

I did actually get to the store yesterday, loaded up on produce, and bought a lovely piece of cod that we had for dinner. i just baked it with some herbs and bread crumbs, surrounded by garlic-laced sauteed onions, portobello mushrooms and artichoke hearts. It was served with baked red bliss potatoes, a garden salad, and some corn bread that came with our take out scallops on Sat nite which we never ate.

Tonight I’ll fix chicken breasts....thinking of making Laurie’s salsa chicken since we haven’t had that in a long time and I could make enough for a meal of leftovers.

Minus, DS2 ruthlessly disposed of so much of his “stuff”, but hopefully others will use some of his books, CDs, etc. He and DH took it all to the town recycling center (aka, “the dump”), where there are a variety of places to leave usable items for others to claim. DH said that there was a guy there who was taking the items as fast as they were unloading them. So that’s good. I had to laugh at DS2 preaching Kondoisms to me. I preached back my long held philosophy that I can almost always find a use for something saved. We laughed at each other!

The This End Up bunk beds are listed on local yard sale sites, and who knows if the first two interested people will show up to buy them this week. If not, I’ll check to see if a homeless shelter can use them. I donated all the bedding stuff and other assorted blankets I unearthed to a dog rescue place.

Special, I’m so sorry to learn about your friend’s daughter’s pregnancy complications. That alone is painfully worrisome, and I’m sure your friend feels awful about needing to cancel her CA trip with you. And here I had visions of you both cruising north on Pacific Hwy! I hope you and DH still have a great getaway despite the change in plans.

ChiSandy

Not taking the snow brush out of my car till June.

Ordered out from Jimmy's NY Pizza Cafe tonight. Got the plain cheese one, because I have basil on my windowsill and cremini mushrooms in the fridge--so why pay extra?

eric95us

Tonight's weather is thunderstorms and wind. The dogs are busy defending home and hearth against the evil forces of lightening and thunder. There is lots of chain lightening that is actually pretty.

Dinner was a combination of late lunch-early dinner (lupper???).

I got a lot of caulking and power washing today so I can paint more tomorrow. Hopefully the weather won't undo much of my work.

Lacey, I think my habit of saving things came from watching my "grew up in the depression" parents. Trash, obviously, goes in the trash, but anything useful that I'm getting rid of goes to someone that can use it.

I've got some basil growing in two pots in the shade of the orange tree. I'm not sure how well it will do in the heat, but for now it's OK. The cilantro (coriander) has long since bolted. Around here, cilantro's growing season is from mid November to late February. I didn't get a chance to save any seed this year, but I'm hoping some "volunteers" will come up next season and I can get some seeds from them...if not, back to the store.....

My weight is slowly coming off, but I'm running about 35 miles a week....According to my "smart" watch's estimation, I'm burning a total of 3,400 calories a day. It's a good thing I like running! :-)

auntienance

DH and I frolicked with ice cream treats this afternoon so dinner was scrambled eggs and toast, followed by the remains of a chocolate bunny and two chocolate (tiny) eggs.

I emptied 5 inches out of the rain gauge this morning. Since Monday. Enough already.

Saw the eye doc Monday and he scheduled me for cataract removal later this month. I'll be so happy to be able to see again. It's getting very aggravating.

The dumpster arrived Monday so if it ever stops raining, the purge can commence.

Special - the spread looks so pretty and delicious!

Where is everybody?

auntienance

DH and I frolicked with ice cream treats this afternoon so dinner was scrambled eggs and toast, followed by the remains of a chocolate bunny and two chocolate (tiny) eggs.

I emptied 5 inches out of the rain gauge this morning. Since Monday. Enough already.

Saw the eye doc Monday and he scheduled me for cataract removal later this month. I'll be so happy to be able to see again. It's getting very aggravating.

The dumpster arrived Monday so if it ever stops raining, the purge can commence.

Special - the spread looks so pretty and delicious!

Where is everybody?

illimae

Dinner tonight was Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen in Las Vegas. The Beef Wellington was on my bucket list and frontier had $29 flights, so why night, right. The lobster risotto was outstanding, as was the dessert. I expected a bit more from the Wellington but it was good.

ChiSandy

Wow--$29 flights? Guess being close(r) to Vegas has its advantages. And the Wellington looked like Ramsay's staff didn't skimp on the filet--how were the truffles?

Leftover fish & chips & slaw again tonight (and leftover pizza for brunch two days in a row). Because of the Invisalign, I'm eating only two meals a day because of the brushing, flossing and cleaning the "tray" after everything I eat. I darn near fainted when I changed to tray #2 last night--tray #1 was definitely yellowed (but hey, so are my teeth); so despite my orthodontist's okay for me to drink white wine or (not very hot) coffee while wearing the tray so long as I clean it out and brush & rinse again afterwards, I'd better not take the chance. I have to wear it at least 20, preferably 22, hrs. a day. And while I'm eating or drinking (and then doing the oral hygiene thing after) I feel like Cinderella near midnight....tick...tick...tick.

I have to drive to Iowa this weekend. For long drives, I always brought water, coffee, and various healthy snacks to minimize meal stops (ideally, stopping only for the bathroom and a bit of walking). This time, that has to change: eat nothing in the car, drink nothing but tepid-to-cold water, and make the most of my meal stops. 2, 4 hrs. tops per day to get all my meals, snacking, coffee breaks and oral care in. This will continue for at least the 3 months it's estimated to take (though everything I read online says to at least double if not quadruple that), plus 2 years of retainers with the same restrictions, then wearing the retainer for sleep for the rest of my life. I hope I lose weight from this...but no luck yet in that dept. Bet my metabolism is going into "famine protection" mode.

MinusTwo

Illimae - I love lobster risotto. The milkshake you posted on another thread took my breath away. Oh YUM. Edited to add the name - Brown Butter Carmel Pecan shake.

Eric - I like 'lupper' better than 'linner' or 'dunch'. 35 miles a day? Wow. How can you keep that pace up in the mid-summer heat?

My lupper was a large salad starting out as a bag of Dole Sunflower Crunch with all those lettuces & cabbages & kale & sunflower seeds - but then I added English cucumbers, asparagus sauteed in oil & lemon & spices, and hard boiled egg. Served with Club Crackers & butter.

Good heavens Nance - 5 inches of rain? I will keep my fingers crossed that it blows on through.

Yes Special, thanks for posting your shower spread. You always make such delicious and attractive offerings. Hope your friend's daughter is OK.

My brother's step-daughter is getting married in September in Southern CA - Westlake Village. I have to decide if I'll go south to visit friends in Orange County & Laguna Beach & on to San Diego. Or to go North to visit cousins along the coast & up through Monterrey & Carmel to San Francisco. Or maybe I'll fly to San Francisco to see my son then take the train south. I could easily spend an entire month wandering along the Pacific.

ChiSandy

Driving to Des Moines tomorrow, along I-88 and then I-80. Many of the low-lying western suburbs are along 88, and I hope we don't need (too many) detours. Flooding has been terrible in the western, SW and NW suburbs along the Fox and Desplaines rivers. The bridge across the Mississippi we'll be taking is pretty tall, so should the river flood at the state line I would expect to see an Ark sailing along. Here 1/4 mi. from Lake Michigan, there are beaches to take the brunt of the rising lake, and as we move westward from the beach we're on a very subtle rise. If anything floods, it'd be the underground garages of the beachfront highrises first; on our block, it'd likelier be sewer back-up which has become less common since the construction of the Deep Tunnel project. After three sewer-backup basement floods in four years, we installed a check valve and sump pump and have had no trouble since (knock wood).

Our next-door neighbor to the west did get some flooding last year during a microburst, but we didn't. He had just started his basement-remodel so the walls were down to the studs anyway. Pretty sure his flood was a sewer backup (you can't really tell once it starts unless you see water coming up through a floor drain or a toilet overflowing) and not from rainwater. He is going to take my advice and get a sump pump.

In the "this is wack" department, you can't even buy flood insurance in our neighborhood: we're not in a Federally-designated floodplain, which are the only locales in which it's offered. Sorta like only reckless drivers being insurable. (Those flood insurance commercials infuriate me, because to me they're like telling a legless person to run). So we have sewer-backup endorsements on our insurance policy, and our agent told us to characterize any water damage in the basement as a sewer-backup.

auntienance

Lobster risotto - be still my heart!

Safe travels to you Sandy, flooding is a major issue here right now. We found ourselves having to backtrack yesterday because of flooded low water bridges in our area.

Cuban pork roast and mojo sauce tonight with black beans. Leftovers will be used to make cubanos for lunch Saturday when the kids and the grand-dog come to visit.

My nice neighbor gave me a rather goodly number of morels they found, so they'll be worked in as an appetizer somewhere in the upcoming meals.

M0mmyof3

Made pancakes and bacon

eric95us

Yes, "Chi", be safe. It looks not so good, even taking into account the possibility of seeing only the worst scenes on television.

I never knew that flood insurance was only available in flood areas. I would have been wrong to guess that the insurance companies would have loved to sell flood policies in places where flooding is a near impossibility.

Thirty-five miles a week...not a day. Not even my dreams have me running 35 miles a day. As for the weather, I guess it's like in cold country in that we just deal with it. When it gets hot (low temperatures only drop to 90-95F), I go run in the morning twilight, or around 9pm. It's still hot, but being out of the sun sure does help. Talking about "this is a wack" department. It's recommended to not be out in the full sun (skin cancer), but then it's also recommended to not be out in the dawn, twilight or night because of mosquitoes. I'm not sure what times that leaves to be outside.

When I was at my aunt's house in southeast Kentucky, my aunt names for the various meals. Breakfast was the morning meal, lunch was a cold noontime meal, dinner was a hot noontime meal and supper was the evening meal....so with that, I'm with you on "lupper" because "linner" and "dunch" would both refer to a "hot but cold noontime meal. :-) For whatever reason, I'm always listening to the local expressions of speech when I go somewhere.

That meal looks good Illimae. For whatever reason, even though my brother has a house in Las Vegas, and it's sort of "next door", we don't get up there that often. And, when we do get up there, SIL makes some awesome meals or my brother knows some great, but unknown, places to eat...so we don't make it to the famous places.

Counting the ladders I own and the ones that my best friend owns, I have available one 24 foot extension ladder, two 20 foot extension ladders, two 4 foot step ladders and one 8 foot step ladder. Because the latest painting is needing the use of the single 8 foot ladder, I've been painting and Sharon has been cooking the last couple of meals. One was a baked "macaroni and cheese" dish and a the other was a different stir fry. The macaroni and cheese is in quotes because it's egg free noodles and the "cheese" is made from almonds. MIL ate with us yesterday and she didn't realize it was mac and cheese in quotes, so it worked out quite well. The stir fry was really good. The mac and cheese will get some spice adjustments to improve it and we will try it again soon.